


Clean

by coffeerepublic



Series: wherever you're going, i'm going your way. [3]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, MacCready swearing in his thoughts, Pre-Relationship, Romantic Realizations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 03:03:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5727292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeerepublic/pseuds/coffeerepublic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A warm shower, a large bed and a clean woman next to him.</p><p>MacCready wasn't going to complain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clean

**Author's Note:**

> [points at MacCready and Nita]  
> Luv those nerds.

MacCready never wanted to see another mole rat in his entire life. The things were disgusting enough in small groups out in the Commonwealth, but being attacked by several dozens of them in an enclosed space was a small nightmare. The fact that these had been specifically bred to develop newly mutated pathogens to infect people with did not help make it better, either.

And the smell! He swore he was never going to forget the stench of partially rotten vermin that had invaded every last corner of the hidden part of Vault 81. He was glad they had managed to salvage the cure for the little boy Austin, though. One fewer needless Vault-Tec victim.

Having helped the people of Vault 81 also came with one more upside – Nita had been given access to a private room in the vault, complete with a big quality bed and a working warm water shower.

Said room was where MacCready was currently drying himself off and getting re-dressed while Nita was occupying the shower. At first he had thought it might have been actual pure kindness that had led her to let him go first. Now, a while later, he was growing more and more convinced that she had simply been planning on going second so she could stay inside the shower for half an eternity.

But he could hardly blame her. When was the last time they had had access to radiation-free water, much less warm radiation-free water? Exactly.

Even now that he was objectively clean, he still could not get the smell of the mole rats out of his nose. It seemed to be stuck there to haunt him for a while yet.

As soon as he had finished putting on his clothes – minus his coat and his hat –, he sat down on the edge of the surprisingly comfortable bed. It was late in the day, early in the evening, and he doubted they were going to continue their venture tonight. They would have to talk about sleeping arrangements.

The sound of water running stopped abruptly. Moments later, the bathroom door opened and out came Nita, dressed rather sparsely in a tank top and soft-fabric shorts. It was painfully obvious she was not wearing a bra.

MacCready wondered for a short moment whether she really had no idea of how her body affected him and in all likelihood other men in the Commonwealth. Woman these days simply did not look like her. She had grown up in a world devoid of radiation; she had obviously never been at any risk of malnutrition. Consequently, she was tall for a woman, almost exactly his height if not an inch taller on good days. She was soft and feminine and had a healthy color to her skin. Even spending months in this post-war world had not been able to take away the physical benefits her old life had provided her with.

In comparison, he was short and wiry and altogether less-than-her.

Nita was drying off her hair with a towel, eyes closed and sighing contentedly. Then she looked at him.

“Think we can steal a towel from here without anyone noticing? This is the softest thing I’ve felt in months,” she said, smiling at him playfully.

“You probably wouldn’t even have to steal it. They’ll give you half a dozen if you ask.”

MacCready chased off the less-than-pure thoughts he had been having. Thinking of her in this way would only end up getting him into trouble. She was his boss and it was beyond inappropriate. (Aside from the fact that she was way out of his league anyways.)

He decided to continue speaking so she would not notice he had gotten distracted. “Wanna go downstairs and grab a bite to eat? Bet the food they offer here is better than our cooking.”

Neither of them was especially skilled when it came to cuisine.

He did not receive a reply. Instead, he could only watch as Nita dropped herself onto the bed next to where he was sitting. She hugged one of the pillows to her chest and dug her nose into it.

“So I’ll take that as a no?” he tried. “Or were you just not listening?”

“Sorry,” she answered, her voice muffled by the pillow. “This is just too comfy. I don’t think I can get up ever again.”

“Fair enough. That doesn’t solve the problem of us having to eat something though.” For a short moment he considered offering to go get some food and bring it back here. It was right there on the tip of his tongue. But he caught himself in time. It was not like him, and he was not her servant. He was still unwilling to admit to himself that he liked doing nice things for her.

“Fear not, dear mercenary!” Nita answered, lifting her face from the pillow and looking at him with suddenly wide eyes and a grin pulling at her lips. “If you dare look into my backpack, you will find a couple of special treats!”

MacCready was not sure whether she was fucking with him or not. Something in the way he looked at her seemed give her a clue.

“Seriously,” she confirmed. “Just before, in the hidden part of the vault, I stumbled upon some food. Vacuum packaging and all! Completely radiation free. Cleanest food you’ve seen, I promise.” Her smile only seemed to widen as she spoke. It seemed almost as if she were happy to share it with him.

He acted on her permission to look inside her backpack and lo and behold, she was right. Taking several rations of unspoiled Fancy Lad Snack Cakes and Dandy Boy Apples from the bag he tried to think of a time when he had last eaten rad-free food. None came to mind.

Dropping the containers on the middle of the wide bed, he sat down opposite of her and opened the first one. She sat up and pushed the pillow against the head of the bed before leaning against it and taking some food.

“Best dinner ever, right?” she was talking with her mouth full, but MacCready found he did not mind. There were a lot of things he did not mind when it came to Nita.

“Yeah,” he agreed, knowing it was a bit of an exaggeration, but going along with it.

They kept making idle conversation as they ate and before long, the food was gone and both of them were full and content. MacCready was not sure how late exactly it had become, but food-induced tiredness threatened to overcome him.

“I’d better prepare my sleeping bag before I fall asleep right here,” he mused, beginning to get up. “Can I take your stuff too? Floor’s pretty hard.” They had not talked about it, but he assumed she would want to sleep in the bed. Actually, she did not seem to be all that awake anymore even now.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said softly, without looking at him, a certain warmth in her voice. “The bed’s big. You don’t need to sleep on the floor. I mean, we’re friends, right?”

Right. Friends. She was his boss and his friend and a person he certainly never caught himself thinking inappropriate thoughts about. But who was he to look a gift horse in mouth?

“If you say so.” He took the empty food containers from between them and put them on the nightstand. Then he lay back down leaving about one foot of space between their bodies and allowed himself to become comfortable.

He was tired, but sleep did not find him for another few moments. During those moments, MacCready realized that the stench that had been trapped in his nose before had finally gone away without him noticing. Instead, it had been replaced by the clean and sweet scent of the woman lying next to him.

They had used the same soap. How could it be that it smelled so much nicer on her?

With the way her back was turned towards him, her hair sprawled across the pillow, the smell seemed to fill the room. Was it really her hair? Or was it her skin? There had to be some kind of individual scent mixing with the soap for her to smell this fucking good.

He enjoyed the situation he was in – lying close to her, being able to breathe her in like this.

He had almost fallen asleep when he dawned on him how bad he had it for her already.

Fuck.


End file.
